The state at one time would chart as one of the top per-capita consumers, but now ranks in the middle of the pack at 30 gallons per person per year as of 2012, just 1.8 gallons higher than the national average.

Colorado has an 8 percent tax on beer -- only Wisconsin and Wyoming tax suds less.

Denver is consistently ranked alongside Portland as one of the topmajorcities for beer in the U.S.

Denver's largest breweries

Now that Breckenridge Brewery has departed for the south suburbs, Great Divide Brewing Company in Arapahoe Square is now the largest brewery in the city. Founded in 1993 by Brian Dunn, Great Divide brewed 41,924 barrels in 2014 and and was trending "up" in 2015 . That would make it the sixth-largest craft brewery in Colorado after New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Left Hand, Breckenridge, and CraftWorks (owner of Rock Bottom and other brands).

Great Divide's reign as the city's largest brewery should last longer than Breckenridge's 7.5-year run, as it assumed the title when Flying Dog flew the coop for Maryland in 2008.

Now home to a warehouse, canning line, and the soon-to-open Barrel Bar, Great Divide's new production facility will launch in RiNo with an annual capacity of about 100,000 barrels when brewing commences in a few years, says Brian Dunn, the brewery's founder. Its capacity will be expandable to 250,000 to 300,000 barrels in subsequent buildouts, according to Dunn's "pie-in-the-sky" projections.

Founded in 1900 with roots in the 1850s, Tivoli shut down in 1969, but a new incarnation -- Tivoli Brewing Co. -- opens in the old brewery structure, now the Tivoli Student Union, on the Auraria Campus next month (Aug. 2015).

In 2014, more than 700 breweries offered more than 3,500 beers from all over the country in the festival hall to 49,000 attendees. (That's the largest selection of American beer at any event in history, and up from 2,101 beers in 2009.) Tickets sold out in 32 minutes.